I often wish, during boring working mondays like today that the celphone stops ringing, all my pending emails get magical 5 star responses, every1 receives their goods or documents or samples or test reports time and so on..they'd then stop calling me or emailing me and allow me to do what i want to do.
The thing with jobs like mine is that there are 3 kinds of things to do:
a) The daily things - like quoting some1 where you're the client interface, clarifying commercial info to subordinates, calling VIP clients, following up on raw material orders and so on..they'll quickly turn into a fire if not attended to immediately.
b) The long term things - Equally boring jobs, like making a dossier, getting a plant approved by USFDA and so on - they require intense, focussed, specialized work OVER a period of time - in most places they are done by specialists who have nothing else to do.
c) The Fun things - like checking stock quotes at 12 pm in the morning, calling your favorite customer to chat, calling some planepal* (more on planepals later) to shoot bull and so on...
In an ideal case - I'd like to be dumped with a 'Long term thing' over which i can work up a wonkish obsession, frenzy etc. and do a good job - while on the side - indulge in some fun activity whenever the work gets boring - the long term responsibilty has ample 'margin of tolerance' where one can have a few bad hair days, take a day off and so on.. when im a USFDA wonk or a Project wonk - id go crazy with those details and worry about nothing else - no emails to answer and no phone calls to make.
But when one gets dumped with all kinds of responsibilities it sometimes makes one crazy in the head and SCREAM for air and worse, The Long term project takes a big hit - u spend so much time firefighting, reacting to situations that develop daily that u are NOWHERE NEAR where you wanted to be - after 3 months, after 6 months and so on..
It might possibly be because of some of my own inherent limitations and so on - but this probably is the single most important problem i have to overcome - not skillsets, not knowledge, not lack of exposure or lack of money.
Heres a slightly ridiculous thought.
If i had a genie who'd grant me a wish - id ask about an year's time where the rest of the world is frozen in one state - no one even moving - while id get the chance to catch up, complete most of my pending gigs, sit, think, value the odd stock or two like id want from the Annual report, excercise, watch movies and the likes.. you know :x
Scrolling up, im slightly embarrassed by this outburst. WTF, if it doesnt read well in the morning, i'l probably take it off.
*Yawn*
Monday, 20 April 2009
Sunday, 19 April 2009
Rambly nonsense mostly
Have made near perfect use of the sunday - having gotten through nearly 200 pages more from 'The Snowball'. Im going MUCH slower than normal - im having to read, re-read certain parts of it because its so good.
Ive been influenced, you know,by books. like really getting taken in by reading something - hadnt happend to me for quite a long time (Hmm when was the last time i obsessively read and reread parts of just one book ? Dont seem to remember)
Onto to other things - We had convened a bit of a board meeting in the afternoon. We ought to do this often, on sundays or celphones switched off. The old man was in a preachy mood today and extremely listeny too. We all came out feeling warm, optimistic and significantly lighter in the head - talking things through thoroughly almost does that.
I have been spending a lot of time on introspection and because the next half year or so will involve several plant level challenges to be tackled - i have told him that i have taken this serious decision that i wont travel out until October for the annual show in Europe - i'l just split my time between the plant and madras - thus giving me sufficient leeway to work on my personal schedule, which is now, well, non existent.
Having already committed resources for all the necessary infrastructure (Gym memberships mostly) I have also sort of wrangled out a deal with the old man where he will pay me 1000000 (Indian, not USD) on 1 September 2009 if i successfully lose 20 kilos (and i pay him 100000 if i dont) on or before 31 August 2009
Its a sort of a win-win for me, as i see it. Ive been warming up for the last month or so and as i always know im always enjoy excercise and my body responds fairly well - so because i know in my bones that im serious this time, im just leveraging up my position with this bet with the old man.
Also gives me the incentive to keep an extra eye on the stock portfolio just in case i lose the bet :x
Related, but off track:
'The Snowball' features this interesting excerpt from one of the Great Man's lectures to a group of students - (Part 6, 'Chapter 53: The Genie' Page 687)
"When i was sixteen, I had just two things on my mind - Girls and cars", Buffett would say, taking a little poetic license here by leaving out the part about money. " i wasnt very good with girls. So i thought about cars. I thought about girls too, but i had more luck with cars.
"Lets say that when i turned sixteen, a genie had appeared to me. And that genie said,
" Warren, i'm going to give you the car of your choice. It'll be here tomorrow morning with a big bow tied on it. Brand-new. And its all yours.
Having heard all the genie stories, i would say, "whats the catch?' and the genie would answer, "theres only one catch. This is the last car your'e ever going to get in your life. So its got to last a lifetime.
If that had happened, i would have picked out that car. But, can you imagine, knowing that it had to last a lifetime, what i would do with it?
"I would read the manual about five times. I would always keep it garaged. If there was the least little dent or scratch, I'd have it fixed right away because I would'nt want it rusting. I would baby that car, because it would have to last a lifetime.
Thats exactly the position you are in concerning your mind and body. You only get one mind and one body. And its got to last a lifetime. Now, its very easy to let them ride for many years. But if you dont take care of that mind and that body, they'll be a wreck forty years later, just like the car would be.
It's what you do right now, today, right now that determines how your mind and body will operate ten, twenty and thirty years from now.
Exactly what ur grandfather wud tell u, eh ?
While i make it sound like an easy task - it aint - as any half decent gym coach will tell you - "you are what you eat" - i am a fucken glutton - so when i havent shaved in a while if A thinks that i look like a 'Teddy bear on steroids' - he has a point.
A person needs about 1500 - 2000 kcals a day for regular functioning. Give or take a 100 or two.
To lose weight one ought to hit the gym early - burn 500/600- get the metabolism up so that u burn through 1500 more easily through the day - do not overeat - keep consumption down to 1000 / 1200. Weight train - tone muscles - bulking them up burns 200/300 more without having to kill yourself at cardio.
Eating only 1000 kcal is NOT a small thing.
- the dietician at my gym says that one idly is 60 / 70 kcal - one dosai 120 - one 100 ml cup of dahi is 140 - one glass of milk is 140 and so on - 4 idlys, 2 dosais and a glass of coffee with 2 sugar cubes (2 x 40) totals to something in the range of 500 kcal and god alone knows how many kcals a half pack of ganesh vilas kadalai mittai will add to the tally.
- Its 19 April today - il probably check my weight on 30 April - just to see how much weight im losing at my rate of activity and take a call on the diet from there - for now just stay off kadalai mittai, thaiyir, switch to green tea without milk, sugar.
I'l start taking side bets from May - if rate of progress is satisfactory - may even talk the old man into upping the stakes.
We'll see, wont we ?
Ive been influenced, you know,by books. like really getting taken in by reading something - hadnt happend to me for quite a long time (Hmm when was the last time i obsessively read and reread parts of just one book ? Dont seem to remember)
Onto to other things - We had convened a bit of a board meeting in the afternoon. We ought to do this often, on sundays or celphones switched off. The old man was in a preachy mood today and extremely listeny too. We all came out feeling warm, optimistic and significantly lighter in the head - talking things through thoroughly almost does that.
I have been spending a lot of time on introspection and because the next half year or so will involve several plant level challenges to be tackled - i have told him that i have taken this serious decision that i wont travel out until October for the annual show in Europe - i'l just split my time between the plant and madras - thus giving me sufficient leeway to work on my personal schedule, which is now, well, non existent.
Having already committed resources for all the necessary infrastructure (Gym memberships mostly) I have also sort of wrangled out a deal with the old man where he will pay me 1000000 (Indian, not USD) on 1 September 2009 if i successfully lose 20 kilos (and i pay him 100000 if i dont) on or before 31 August 2009
Its a sort of a win-win for me, as i see it. Ive been warming up for the last month or so and as i always know im always enjoy excercise and my body responds fairly well - so because i know in my bones that im serious this time, im just leveraging up my position with this bet with the old man.
Also gives me the incentive to keep an extra eye on the stock portfolio just in case i lose the bet :x
Related, but off track:
'The Snowball' features this interesting excerpt from one of the Great Man's lectures to a group of students - (Part 6, 'Chapter 53: The Genie' Page 687)
"When i was sixteen, I had just two things on my mind - Girls and cars", Buffett would say, taking a little poetic license here by leaving out the part about money. " i wasnt very good with girls. So i thought about cars. I thought about girls too, but i had more luck with cars.
"Lets say that when i turned sixteen, a genie had appeared to me. And that genie said,
" Warren, i'm going to give you the car of your choice. It'll be here tomorrow morning with a big bow tied on it. Brand-new. And its all yours.
Having heard all the genie stories, i would say, "whats the catch?' and the genie would answer, "theres only one catch. This is the last car your'e ever going to get in your life. So its got to last a lifetime.
If that had happened, i would have picked out that car. But, can you imagine, knowing that it had to last a lifetime, what i would do with it?
"I would read the manual about five times. I would always keep it garaged. If there was the least little dent or scratch, I'd have it fixed right away because I would'nt want it rusting. I would baby that car, because it would have to last a lifetime.
Thats exactly the position you are in concerning your mind and body. You only get one mind and one body. And its got to last a lifetime. Now, its very easy to let them ride for many years. But if you dont take care of that mind and that body, they'll be a wreck forty years later, just like the car would be.
It's what you do right now, today, right now that determines how your mind and body will operate ten, twenty and thirty years from now.
Exactly what ur grandfather wud tell u, eh ?
While i make it sound like an easy task - it aint - as any half decent gym coach will tell you - "you are what you eat" - i am a fucken glutton - so when i havent shaved in a while if A thinks that i look like a 'Teddy bear on steroids' - he has a point.
A person needs about 1500 - 2000 kcals a day for regular functioning. Give or take a 100 or two.
To lose weight one ought to hit the gym early - burn 500/600- get the metabolism up so that u burn through 1500 more easily through the day - do not overeat - keep consumption down to 1000 / 1200. Weight train - tone muscles - bulking them up burns 200/300 more without having to kill yourself at cardio.
Eating only 1000 kcal is NOT a small thing.
- the dietician at my gym says that one idly is 60 / 70 kcal - one dosai 120 - one 100 ml cup of dahi is 140 - one glass of milk is 140 and so on - 4 idlys, 2 dosais and a glass of coffee with 2 sugar cubes (2 x 40) totals to something in the range of 500 kcal and god alone knows how many kcals a half pack of ganesh vilas kadalai mittai will add to the tally.
- Its 19 April today - il probably check my weight on 30 April - just to see how much weight im losing at my rate of activity and take a call on the diet from there - for now just stay off kadalai mittai, thaiyir, switch to green tea without milk, sugar.
I'l start taking side bets from May - if rate of progress is satisfactory - may even talk the old man into upping the stakes.
We'll see, wont we ?
Thursday, 16 April 2009
Of friends and girlfriends
Dont have much energy left to actually sit on half hour long blog posts these days, but as i see its been a longish gap since i got down to completing any new post - its about time we remedied the situation.
Ive ben busy - BRUTAL travel schedule - to Brasil for a few days waking 1 am daily to do indian work - back via bombay - stopover there for work onto Pune on visits, chennai for a day and back to the village earlier today.
In bombay after quite sometime, spent quality time out with C & T - separately - sitting up until the wee hours of the morning gossiping & talking about nonsensical things like schoolgirls.
C's alcohol tolerance hasnt improved one bit - T, as usual 'the rock' and i, surprisingly wasnt so far behind. C starts smiling when drunk, T starts blabbing nonsense, uses a lot of bad words and me of course, um, normally do not get drunk - but you know, i do my thing :x
C is much better these days, having nearly crawled out of the hole he'd dug himself into - and T, lives in this posh apartment in Wadala, rooming with high flying amit123 types (Incidentally from Delhi) getting through incredible amount of living expense, booze and um, im sure, porno.
He also gave me more dope on his clearing several levels on his quest for the girlfriend ('serious' 'tambrahm' 'non-braburning') - all the stuff, with generous gyaan thrown in between - delivered with a serious poker face over a 12 pm ish dinner & coffee in wadala. Hes supposed to have reached a level where 'only minor financial milestones' separate him, marriage & mamahood and in a year or 'max' 2 - he 'should be' old enough.
He asks me, poker face intact, what 'milestones' do i have in my mind - now that i appear to be financially 'well settled' - he then proceeded to show me a mobile phone photo of this girl he was,um, seeing (!? - dont remember what exact word he used - 'seeing' seems correct - he did not say 'dating' or 'going out')
- Sooo like T - always making progress along a well thoughtout route.
He, of course, in anticipation of such scenarios has been long honing his skillsets and is today amongst the most skilled practioners of the art of - 'talking chickenshit on the mobile, often when half asleep but always after 12 pm', doing conversations like:
T: mmm, thoongaporen. sema thookam thookama varadhu
Female: $#*#&%*#&$
T: mmmm, padhinoru manikki thaan vanden saptutu. friends oda imax poirunden. chinese saptom. karthala ezhundukanum.
Female: $#%#$#$#$#$#$
T: mmmm, hmmmm
Female: #$(#$*#($##$#
T: ohh, cheri cheri.hmmmmm
and so on. come back after an hour - hes still half asleep - but still holding onto the mobile saying "hmmmm.mmmmm.okay chheri. good night. chalo" and still showing no sign of hanging the damn phone up.
And in T's opinion - such skillsets are VITAL to even attempt Level 1 in beginner mode - he looks at me and almost involuntarily mutters - 'hopeless'. And as per his expert assessment - I have 'growing up to do' be 'less of a sarcastic bas$#%d' and 'travel less'. C thinks i am 'still' a 'hopeless coward', nod of the head, and adds another 'hopeless'
But overall, i was, as always, thoroughly entertained, well fed and yes, well watered.
Have another post (more serious) half done - but will save the bull until the weekend maybe. enough shot here already.
*yawn*
Ive ben busy - BRUTAL travel schedule - to Brasil for a few days waking 1 am daily to do indian work - back via bombay - stopover there for work onto Pune on visits, chennai for a day and back to the village earlier today.
In bombay after quite sometime, spent quality time out with C & T - separately - sitting up until the wee hours of the morning gossiping & talking about nonsensical things like schoolgirls.
C's alcohol tolerance hasnt improved one bit - T, as usual 'the rock' and i, surprisingly wasnt so far behind. C starts smiling when drunk, T starts blabbing nonsense, uses a lot of bad words and me of course, um, normally do not get drunk - but you know, i do my thing :x
C is much better these days, having nearly crawled out of the hole he'd dug himself into - and T, lives in this posh apartment in Wadala, rooming with high flying amit123 types (Incidentally from Delhi) getting through incredible amount of living expense, booze and um, im sure, porno.
He also gave me more dope on his clearing several levels on his quest for the girlfriend ('serious' 'tambrahm' 'non-braburning') - all the stuff, with generous gyaan thrown in between - delivered with a serious poker face over a 12 pm ish dinner & coffee in wadala. Hes supposed to have reached a level where 'only minor financial milestones' separate him, marriage & mamahood and in a year or 'max' 2 - he 'should be' old enough.
He asks me, poker face intact, what 'milestones' do i have in my mind - now that i appear to be financially 'well settled' - he then proceeded to show me a mobile phone photo of this girl he was,um, seeing (!? - dont remember what exact word he used - 'seeing' seems correct - he did not say 'dating' or 'going out')
- Sooo like T - always making progress along a well thoughtout route.
He, of course, in anticipation of such scenarios has been long honing his skillsets and is today amongst the most skilled practioners of the art of - 'talking chickenshit on the mobile, often when half asleep but always after 12 pm', doing conversations like:
T: mmm, thoongaporen. sema thookam thookama varadhu
Female: $#*#&%*#&$
T: mmmm, padhinoru manikki thaan vanden saptutu. friends oda imax poirunden. chinese saptom. karthala ezhundukanum.
Female: $#%#$#$#$#$#$
T: mmmm, hmmmm
Female: #$(#$*#($##$#
T: ohh, cheri cheri.hmmmmm
and so on. come back after an hour - hes still half asleep - but still holding onto the mobile saying "hmmmm.mmmmm.okay chheri. good night. chalo" and still showing no sign of hanging the damn phone up.
And in T's opinion - such skillsets are VITAL to even attempt Level 1 in beginner mode - he looks at me and almost involuntarily mutters - 'hopeless'. And as per his expert assessment - I have 'growing up to do' be 'less of a sarcastic bas$#%d' and 'travel less'. C thinks i am 'still' a 'hopeless coward', nod of the head, and adds another 'hopeless'
But overall, i was, as always, thoroughly entertained, well fed and yes, well watered.
Have another post (more serious) half done - but will save the bull until the weekend maybe. enough shot here already.
*yawn*
Update
Ok. Its official now.
As all major analysts & trend followers will agree the Indian stock market is officially OFF bear market mode and will be TRENDING from here on - with a mildly upward bias (hopefully) and the bottom formed at 8000 ish levels on the sensex will be the intermediate bottom from which trendlines ought to be drawn.
Chart here
Markets at lower levels, companies selling at 7 and 8 times forward PEs :x *drool*
We'll see what we do this year, wont we ?
As all major analysts & trend followers will agree the Indian stock market is officially OFF bear market mode and will be TRENDING from here on - with a mildly upward bias (hopefully) and the bottom formed at 8000 ish levels on the sensex will be the intermediate bottom from which trendlines ought to be drawn.
Chart here
Markets at lower levels, companies selling at 7 and 8 times forward PEs :x *drool*
We'll see what we do this year, wont we ?
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